


From Autumn Storms to Wedding Proposals

by Otherworldly_Sunsets



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Autumn-Themed, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Fairly-Heavy Lime, Fluff, Heated makeout sessions, Humor, IT Chapter Two (2019) - Freeform, Little bit of angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Modern Day Setting, No Pennywise AU, Power Outage, Reddie, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, no smut though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-16 02:15:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21263444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otherworldly_Sunsets/pseuds/Otherworldly_Sunsets
Summary: When the power goes out in their house due to a huge storm in the Chicago area, Richie and Eddie must find ways to entertain themselves.They cuddle, they eat, they laugh- all that good stuff.However, Richie is hesitant when it comes to asking Eddie a certain something.When they go out one day, a certain little fan of Richie's helps Eddie figure out what that "something" is. Conflict ensues.





	1. Cinnamon

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
So, this chapter is mainly a set-up for what's going on in the story. There is a lot more of the promised plot in chapter two, but this one is also great!  
** !!!~ Just as a small "just-in-case"-type warning, there _ is _ a tickle scene in this chapter. If that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to skip it. I don't want anyone to be caught off guard or be made uncomfortable by any means. **  
~ Any positive, constructive criticism is appreciated/accepted!  
~ I apologize if they ever seem to be OOC!  
~ I hope you like it!

Wind continuously howled outside, lightning flashing through the window and brightening up the, otherwise dark, living room and making Eddie slightly flinch in surprise as thunder practically shook the house, his and Richie's Pomeranian leaping from his lap and skittering into the kitchen with a soft whine. With a slight groan, the risk analyst wrapped his plaid blanket tighter around his shoulders and moved to stand up, the scent of cinnamon spice soon reaching his senses as he reached the kitchen and the sound of his partner's soft voice singing along to the tune of "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" making him relax almost entirely. Looking closely, Eddie saw that some candles had been lit since the power went out about fifteen-to-twenty minutes ago. He mentally thanked Richie for thinking to do that.

"This song's familiar," Eddie said after a short minute of listening to Richie sing, chuckling a little once the taller man jumped a bit and turned to face him with wide eyes and a slightly-flustered expression. "Sorry," Eddie apologized, not sounding very convincing whatsoever, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Jesus, Eds..!" Richie chuckled, a hand over his heart as he moved past the counter- being careful not to step on their dog -and gently pulled the other man into a hug. "You sure you didn't mean to? 'Cause you fuckin' did, you sneaky menace." Eddie laughed again, not noticing the way Richie fondly smiled at him.

"I'm sure, dickwad." Eddie scoffed playfully, moving up on his toes and placing a kiss onto Richie's cheek. "Now what the Hell are you doin' in here?" He looked around the kitchen once more and found that some store-bought cinnamon rolls and a few napkins were on the main counter. Looking back at Richie, Eddie found that the comedian suddenly seemed a bit sheepish, a hand rubbing the back of his neck as his face turned a tad bit red. Eddie's smile faded. "Everything okay, Rich?"

"Oh yeah, yeah." Richie nodded quickly, letting Eddie go and rushing over to his phone as the song was replaced by an ad. "Damn Spotify," he muttered, quickly closing the app and turning his phone's volume down, reminding himself to buy the premium deal later before turning back to his boyfriend with a crooked grin. When it was returned with a confused/worried expression, Richie sighed in defeat and motioned to the plastic box of cinnamon rolls.

"I just wanted to do something with you today." He confessed. Eddie softly relaxed with a chuckle.

"There are a lot of 'something's we can do, Richie," Eddie replied, crossing his arms as Richie softly snickered and rose a brow at him, his eyes holding a new playful gleam from behind his glasses.

"Yeah? Well, I certainly wouldn't say no to another round of last night's-"  
"Beep beep, dipshit!" Eddie laughed, slapping Richie's shoulders and even throwing his blanket at him from across the counter. When the container of cinnamon rolls almost fell off the counter, Richie tensed up and got a hold of it with one hand, clutching one of Eddie's attacking hands in his own and pressing it against the counter with a laugh.

"'Ey! Watch it, now!" He hollered.  
"Ya can't make me, Tozier!" Eddie teased, allowing himself to calm down as Richie gently squeezed his hand and gave him a semi-serious look, his smiling widening a tiny bit as they met eyes again and their laughter soon dying down.

"For real, though." Richie continued, looking down at the cinnamon rolls after a moment, "I... since there's storm and stuff, I thought that..." he paused a bit- much unlike him, "I dunno, Eds, maybe I just thought that we could hang out today since we clearly don't have any work to do today." Richie shrugged, his tone a little uncertain and his expression becoming fairly sheepish. "We rarely get to hang out anymore, y'know?"

Eddie was dumbfounded, his mouth opening and closing frequently as he tried to find something- _ anything _ to say. Sure, this behavior was nothing new to him- Richie was quite the hopeless romantic (which honestly shocked the fuck out of Eddie when they first got together three years ago)- but it wasn't very often that Richie could really drop the whole 'Trashmouth/jokester/ha-ha' persona and change it to a more serious and sincere one. Whether that was due to the fact that Richie seemed to be more tired than not due to the constant gigs he had or what, Eddie wasn't sure, but he also didn't really care. It was all _ Richie _, and there was nothing Eddie would do to change him.

"Richie..," Eddie finally replied, his voice a mere whisper as his smile slowly widened, "that's... really fuckin' sappy, man." 

"Oh, fuck you!" Richie playfully pushed Eddie's arm away, his muscles visibly relaxing. "Give me a break- at least I'm trying!" They both shared another laugh and Eddie reached for the container of cinnamon rolls. 

Before he could take it, however, Richie swiftly grabbed it and yanked it away from him, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he watched Eddie gasp, shout, and push himself up on the counter to reach for the sweet treat.

"Hey! Asshole- give them back!" Eddie exclaimed, a soft laugh wavering his words a bit. Realizing that his current position wasn't helping him in the slightest, the shorter male moved around the counter and ended up practically pinning Richie against the counter's corner. The taller man lifted the container higher in response, making a challenge for Eddie while eyeing him closely and making sure that he couldn't get the cinnamon rolls. 

"No! You've lost your chance!" Richie jokingly argued, pushing Eddie away with his free hand.

"What?!" Eddie scoffed, "how in the _ fuck _ did I-?!"

"You called me sappy!" Richie childishly whined, an almost mocking pout making its way onto his face as he continued to push Eddie away. "That really hurt, Eduardo!"

"Oh my god, you're such a baby!" Eddie laughed, reaching a little higher with gritted teeth and just _ barely _ touching the plastic container. Noticing this, Richie gasped and attempted to lift it even higher, causing Eddie to groan at him and call him an ass.

It was then that Eddie got an idea, his expression changing from annoyed to mischievous once again as he moved his reaching arms downward and, before Richie could process the shorter man's sudden movement, began to prod and squeeze at Richie's ribs, making the comedian yelp and almost drop the container, but he caught it with both hands and lifted it back up before he could.

"'Ey!" Richie cried with a laugh, "Eddie- Eds, cut it out!" Somehow, he managed to keep one (albeit shaky) arm in the air with the container in hand, while the other arm moved back down to push Eddie back best it could. "That's not fair! Stop it!"

Eddie was practically _ beaming _, his eyes shining almost as brightly as the candles' flames as he began to exploit all of Richie's most ticklish spots- each one he could remember -on his torso.  
Richie was in shambles, his held-up arm near trembling as he tried his best to not let Eddie win. The little shit was already digging into the places that made Richie want to collapse to his knees and it seemed like it wouldn't be much longer until he actually _ did _.

"_ Okay! _" Richie eventually wailed, his arm coming down and the cinnamon rolls almost falling from his hand again. "Okay- I give, you win..!"

Eddie laughed triumphantly, snatching the plastic container with both hands and holding it close to him. Shortly after sending a teasing grin Richie's way, Eddie moved the container a little and quickly scanned through the list of ingredients and stuff that were in the cinnamon rolls. '_ Better to be safe than sorry _,' he thought. After learning that he _ could _, in fact, eat the treats, Eddie set the container back onto the counter and turned back to Richie, his expression becoming sympathetic as he realized just how much of a wreck he made Richie.

His face was, as far as Eddie could tell, bright red, and he seemed fairly out of breath. He was leaning against the counter, shivering, hugging himself and occasionally rubbing at his torso to get some left over tingly feelings away. His glasses were a bit crooked too, and Eddie would be lying if he said that Richie didn't look cute like that.  
With a soft chuckle, Eddie bent down, picked the discarded blanket up from the tile floor, stepped closer to Richie and, after wrapping the blanket around the comedian's shoulders, adjusted his glasses for him, cupping his face in his hands and gently turning his head so Richie was fully looking at him.

"You okay, Rich?" Eddie asked, his voice soft as he gently rubbed Richie's cheek with his thumb. In response, Richie smiled at him, nodded, then pulled Eddie into a kiss, their lips meeting tenderly before they pulled away and gave each other a fond smile.  
_ Talk about being sappy. _

After a few moments, Eddie helped Richie steady himself and motioned to the cinnamon rolls, silently inviting the other man to begin snacking with him. With a soft snort and a silly statement of "I'd rather snack on you now" (which earned him a playful smack to the chest), Richie eventually joined his boyfriend at the counter once more and began to enjoy the small treats with him, laughing, joking, and reminiscing with each other for what seemed like hours as the candle light continued to flicker and as the heavy storm outside continued on.

** -Extra- **  
"Hey Eds?" Richie piped up after a few moments of comfortable silence. Eddie glanced up at him with a playful glare, his chewing soon coming to a stop as he swallowed what was left of his third cinnamon roll.

"Don't call me 'Eds', dipshit." His expression then changed into a questioning one- a curious one that never failed to make Richie's smile widen. "What is it, Rich?"

"Uh..." Richie cleared his throat, seemingly hesitant with something. "I wanted to know if-"

"Did you poison these?" Eddie joked, motioning to the plate of cinnamon rolls between them. After a short pause, Richie let out a chuckle and shook his head. Eddie rose a brow and smirked. "You sure?"

"_ Yes. _" Richie replied with a sigh as Eddie laughed and took another cinnamon roll. Richie watched his lover fondly- something he'd noticed he had done a lot that night. As his heart began to slightly pound and his nerves once again began to act up, he shifted a little, the object in his back pocket making itself known again.

"Anyway," Eddie's laugh faded, only a smile remaining as he looked back at Richie, "what did you need, Rich?"

"Oh," Richie took a short breath, and relaxed almost completely as he grabbed another cinnamon roll from the plate, "nothing, Eds."


	2. Out to the Park

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter Two!  
I'm so so SO sorry I was late in posting this! I got caught up in a lot of things at once and I found that I ended up not having the time to complete this.  
I hope you enjoy it regardless!
> 
> ~Any appropriate, constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated!  
~If you find any typing mistakes, let me know!  
~Have fun!

"_ Gooood morning, Chicago! This is your daily weather reporter, Don Hagarty, here to deliver the news of what Mother Nature has in store for you today-! _"

_ CLICK _

Richie woke up with a stir, grunting a bit as he sat up and stretched out his muscles before turning to his left, the sound of the wireless radio that had woken him up long gone. In its place, Richie could hear, was a soft voice cursing rapidly to itself as the owner of said voice stuffed the radio under his pillow and looked at Richie with a terrified expression. Shifting again, Richie grabbed his glasses and put them on, feeling Eddie place a comforting hand on his forearm.

"Sorry, Rich..," Eddie spoke softly, "I didn't realize.. the volume was so loud." 

"'S fine, Eds," Richie reassured, resting his hand over Eddie's with a soft smile. He paused for a moment, soon leaning into Eddie a little once the shorter man shifted closer to him. After a moment of comforting silence, Richie asked: "Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, uh..." Eddie seemed to be thinking on it, which confused Richie a little, "I... yeah, I did." Eddie smiled at him, soothing any concerns the comedian may have had. "Better than I have in a while, really." His tone held a sincere honesty to it that never failed to warm Richie's heart, the taller man's arms moving around Eddie's waist to pull him closer. "Did you?"

"Oh yeah," Richie replied, laughing a bit once Eddie gave him a strange, inquisitive look. "What? I just had a great dream last night."

"Oh." Eddie softly smiled to himself. "What was it about?"

With a bit of hesitation, Richie replied, "Oh, y'know.. the usual." Eddie looked down at him again with a raised brow, wondering what the fuck Richie was talking about. The comedian soon continued, "I was in a nice hotel room, nice view and whatnot, and this _ beautiful _ hunk of human walked up to me." Richie laughed a bit to himself, "He was surely somethin', and had some badass tattoos on his chest that I was, honestly, not expecti- _ mmph. _" Eddie blushed a bit, covering Richie's mouth before he could say anything more.

"Beep beep, Richie," Eddie said sternly, a faint smile sneaking onto his face before he could stop it. He lowered his hand before Richie could even think about licking it, and removed their radio from beneath his pillow, turning its volume down before flicking it on and listening in on what the weather guy had to say.

_ "-yeah, my husband is quite the tricky guy." _The weatherman's voice said with a certain type of fondness that Eddie quickly recognized. _ "Adrian, if you're listening, I love you, honey." _Eddie smiled softly. He had forgotten that Mr. Hagarty had recently gotten married to his long-time partner, Adrian Mellon. Eddie could see Richie smile from the corner of his eye and felt the comedian tighten his hold on him.  
Hagarty continued, _ "Anyway, yeah, the weather's looking a lot nicer today, as you all can probably tell by looking outside. The storm's gone and the temperature's at about 57 degrees. The high today will be around the upper 60s so, if you're wanting to go out with friends and family, be sure to grab a sweater on your way ou-" _

_ CLICK _

Eddie, once again, turned the radio off with a sigh, setting it aside while Richie released his hold on him and turned around to look out the window. Sure enough, the storm was over and the blue sky could be spotted through the fair amount of clouds that littered it, but there seemed to be a good amount of wind blowing, too, and Richie realized that neither of them had any idea what the Hell the wind chill was supposed to be.

"The power's still out..." Eddie stated, moving out of bed and over to their shared closet, taking out a shirt and putting it on while Richie turned back around and, knowing damn well it wouldn't work, attempted to turn the TV on, failed, and tossed the remote onto Eddie's side of the bed with a small huff of 'no shit'. Eddie gave him a sharp, but playful look and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You still tried to turn the TV on, dumbass!" He playfully snapped, laughing a bit as he watched Richie stumble on a few words in an attempt to find a comeback. When he failed, Eddie gave him a smug grin and moved toward the dresser, getting out a pair of jeans and changing out of his sweatpants without another word.

Soon after he had buttoned his jeans and straightened up, Eddie felt Richie hug him from behind, his face burying itself into Eddie's hair as the taller man slightly swayed the both of them to a silent rhythm. Eddie gasped a bit, startled by the unexpected gesture, but nevertheless moved his arms over Richie's, smiling fondly for, what may have just been, the millionth time since the power first went out.

"Are you going somewhere, Eds?" Richie asked, his voice somewhat raspy. Eddie turned his head to face him best he could and gave him a look.

"Don't call me 'Eds', Richie." Eddie couldn't bring himself to curse at Richie that time. He sighed, "And no, I'm not going anywhere. It's most likely still wet outside and we- ah_ shit _-we didn't hear what the wind chill is! _ Fuck _I shouldn't have-" He sounded angry with himself, so Richie quickly moved to place a few tender kisses to the smaller man's neck, making him stop talking almost immediately and slightly shiver.

"Relax, Eds, I'm sure it isn't_ that _bad," Richie spoke up after a moment of calming Eddie down. "Besides, I'm sure the weather guy would've mentioned something if the wind chill was, like, 30 degrees or somethin'." 

Eddie supposed that that was right, but it wasn't like he was gonna say that.

"Well..." Eddie huffed, turning in Richie's arms to face him, "do you wanna go out or something then?" He asked. "We could go to the park- take Tiger with us and take a walk.

Richie seemed intrigued by that offer, soon nodding after giving it less than a minute of thought. 

"Definitely." He replied.

"Well hurry up then, idiot, or I might just change my mind." Eddie teased, chuckling a bit once Richie sternly nodded and made a beeline for their closet, pulling out a shirt of his own and throwing it on. Eddie followed close behind, reaching behind Richie to grab a hoodie and, realizing that he had gotten one of Richie's hoodies, put it on without a second thought. Sure, it was big on him, but it was also warm <s> and Richie's </s>, so it didn't really matter to him. 

As Richie continued to get ready, Eddie decided to start a little 'Eddian Rhapsody' as Richie had begun to call them- a rant about the possibility of getting sick, injured, killed or whatever else before they did something even the slightest bit questionable. Nowadays, Eddie mainly did this to amuse Richie, knowing better now that his mom was controlling him when he was a kid and that not everything was out to kill him.  
As he went on, Richie began to laugh and crack a few jokes with him and, before too long, it was like they were 13 again and Eddie was expecting to hear Stan snap at them to 'shut up already' or Bev to add her own snarky comment. That's just how it was, constantly bickering and/or arguing but always having fun with one another.

While Eddie was ranting, his back turned and his arms gesturing wildly to nothing like they always did, Richie swiftly reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out the same small box that he wanted to give Eddie the night before. As Eddie began to turn back around, he quickly put the box in his jacket pocket and moved over to Eddie again.

"Are you ready yet, Richie?" Eddie soon asked, his rant coming to a close.  
"Huh?" Richie instinctively moved his hand over his jacket pocket. "Oh, uh, yeah."  
"Well, come on, then!"  
"Alright, alright, geez!" Richie laughed softly, taking Eddie's hand and rubbing the back of it with his thumb.

After they put Tiger on his leash and locked the front door, they began to make their way to the park.

** \------- **

The park looked beautiful, the leaves bright orange and deep red upon the somewhat-wet walkway and in the trees, some of them letting out a satisfying crunch when either Richie or Eddie stepped on them. The sky still had its bunch of clouds, but the Sun would still occasionally shine down through the trees and warm up the, otherwise chilly, area. 

The two were strolling hand-in-hand, feeling more comfortable with doing such a thing in public ever since it became legal in the state. Along with that, not many people were out with them, which was quite strange given the change in weather and how there was a Festival-type deal going on in the park they were heading to, but they weren't about to complain.

After a few more steps, the couple found themselves being pulled toward the festival by their Pomeranian, who was yipping and barking at some of the kids that were playing in the pumpkin patch, the sound of their innocent laughter, whoops, and cheers making Eddie feel a slight sense of safety, and the giddy expression on Richie's face making him softly chuckle.

"Look at this patch, Eds!" Richie exclaimed with awe, motioning to the pumpkin patch and letting go of Eddie's hand, handing him Tiger's leash before picking up a fairly decently sized pumpkin from the bunch. "Can you imagine what we could carve into this big boy?"

"As if I'd let you have a knife." Eddie snorted, stepping past Richie and kneeling down- being careful of the wet ground -to look at a few other pumpkins.

"Ditto." Richie teased, laughing once Tiger pounced onto Eddie and began to lick his face. "Haha! That's what you get!" When he received a playful glare for that, Richie said, "What? Tiger's clearly got the right idea! Yeah! Get 'im, boy!"

"Hey, Richie!" A semi-excited voice shouted from beside them, a small boy with curly brown-ish blond hair running up to them with a big grin. Eddie looked at the newcomer as Tiger hopped off of his lap and ran to the boy, yapping and sniffing at his jeans and hands as the boy pet him. After a short minute, Eddie stood back up and glanced at Richie, a fond smile slipping onto his face as he watched Richie smile at the kid.

"What's up, kiddo?" Richie replied, whistling for Tiger to come to him and grabbing the Pom's collar once he did. The boy giggled a little and stepped closer to Richie, motioning to his shirt, which had a picture from Richie's 2016 Halloween show on it. Richie practically beamed.

"The fun's just beginning." The kid said, a slight smirk slipping onto his face as he waited for Richie to get it. With a soft laugh, Eddie turned away and covered his mouth. He did not want to admit that he enjoyed Richie's shows, but (fortunately) it seemed that Richie had noticed his reaction, his smile becoming more fond and adoring as he looked at him before turning back to the kid.

"You bet it is, kid." Richie smirked back, giving the kid a high-five before asking, "What's your name?"

"Dean." The boy- Dean -replied, his eyes shifting to Eddie for a moment before he looked back at Richie. He seemed to be contemplating something, but neither Richie nor Eddie were exactly sure about that. "My parents are right over there with my sister," he pointed to another area of the patch before looking back at Richie, his eyes holding a glint of hopefulness, "can I get a picture?"

"Of course you can!" Richie replied, chuckling a bit as Dean hurried over to get his family. While he waited for the boy to come back, Richie looked back at Eddie, who was looking at him in, what seemed to be, awe and admiration. "You okay, Eds?"

"Yeah, I am." Eddie replied, glancing at Dean and his family for a moment before looking back at Richie. "I just can't- I couldn't-" He paused for a short moment, "how do you deal with random people knowing you name? It would scare me to-"

"They're not 'random people', Eddie-spaghetti." Richie laughed fondly, caressing his boyfriend's cheek a little before stating, "they're _ fans _\- people who look up to you and care about you. It's like having friends without knowing it 'til you meet them. Sure, sometimes it can get weird, but all-in-all it's real nice when you get used to it." He removed his hand once he saw that Dean and his family were coming up, his demeanor changing from adoring and back to friendly as soon as the young boy ran up to him and got a picture, Richie having to bend over quite a bit in order for it to be just right. 

Eddie continued to watch on in awe, more awe than before as he thought over what Richie had said. He had always believed it to be scary- strangers who knew more about you than you even knew yourself coming up and just talking to you and asking for pictures and/or your signature -but now he was starting to believe that maybe that's not all that was. Tucking that thought away for later, Eddie was called out of his trance by Richie, who told him that he was gonna go talk to Dean's parents for a bit.  
_ It's like having friends without knowing it until you meet them. _  
Interesting.

"Hey, mister," Dean suddenly caught Eddie's attention, "how do you know Richie?"

Eddie tensed up a bit. Maybe this _ was _ pretty bad.

"Um..." Eddie hesitated, his gaze searching frantically for Richie who was still over a little ways away. Damn. "He's, uh, an... an old friend of mine." Well, that wasn't _ entirely _false. Dean, however, didn't seem very convinced, and glanced at Richie.

"Well, I hope this doesn't sound weird, but I think he likes you. Like, like-likes you." Dean said nonchalantly, a smile slipping onto his face as he turned back to Eddie. When Eddie looked at him in shock, Dean began to believe that he had offended Eddie, and he soon shrugged. "I dunno, sir. I just saw that he looks at you the way my dad looks at my mom."

Eddie felt his heart melt. This was _ not _ bad. Not bad at all.

"D-Does he really?" Eddie asked.

"Yep." Dean nodded, visibly relaxing as he realized that he hadn't done anything wrong. His hand slipped into his pocket after a moment, Eddie's brows furrowing as the young boy pulled out a small, black box. He handed it to Eddie, who examined it closely with interest.

"What-?"

"That fell out of Richie's pocket." Dean motioned to the box. "I don't really know what it means, but I do know that my dad got my mom one when I was 7. She still wears it, and says that it's really important for people that are in love." He looked back at his parents for a moment before turning back to Eddie. "Since Richie looks at you the way my dad looks at my mom, then maybe he wants to give you a ring like my dad gave my mom one."

Eddie was in a state of disbelief, his hands becoming a bit shaky (from the cold and from his nervousness) as he slowly opened the box. Sure enough, there was a beautiful silver ring in the box, a line of diamonds decorating the shiny accessory. Looking even closer (or, at least, as closely as he could since he was beginning to tear up), Eddie could see that there was a small engraving on the inside of the ring.

_ R + E _

It clicked in an instant.

The Kissing Bridge in Derry, Richie's confession to Eddie after 27 years of pining for and missing him; after dealing with internalized (and otherwise) homophobia. The honesty and sincerity in Richie's voice as he told Eddie when and why he carved _ those exact _letters and _ that exact _symbol into the bridge's wood.

Of course he'd use that in a proposal, that fucking sap.

_ God _Eddie loved him.

"Th-Thank you, Dean." Eddie said with pure appreciation in his tone, giving a smile to the young boy as he smiled up at Eddie.

"Yeah." Dean said, before turning his head and seeing that his family and Richie were moving toward them. Richie seemed... unorganized, frantically searching along the pumpkins and in his pockets for something that Eddie believed he currently had. Quickly, Eddie shoved the small box into his jeans pocket and moved the hoodie over it to hide the lump it left, putting his hand against the box to keep it from slipping out.

"Well, it's been very nice meeting you, Mr. Tozier." Dean's father shook Richie's hand when he was able to. "I hope you find the-" he quickly glanced at Eddie and cleared his throat, "-whatever you're searching for."

"Thank you." Richie nodded to the man, seemingly thankful that the man didn't let a certain something slip. Eddie felt a sudden urge in his gut to come clean- to show Richie that he knew what he wanted to find -but he decided against it and took a deep, silent breath.

"Bye, Richie! Bye, mister!" Dean waved to them as he left with his family, Eddie and Richie returning the gesture- Eddie with more enthusiasm than Richie -before turning around, grabbing Tiger's leash and, before Eddie could protest, heading back home.

** \------- **

The walk back home was fairly quiet- save for the few times Tiger would bark at a passing person or for the times when Eddie would try to get Richie to laugh or talk to him. Occasionally, Eddie would get a little chilly and shiver, which would then lead to Richie pulling him closer to warm him up, but that was all Eddie really got from Richie besides a soft chuckle or two. Well, at least the leaves still looked beautiful.

Richie was, clearly, uncharacteristically quiet, his expression stern and face red as he tried with all his might not to cry. He felt so fucking stupid- like a damn dumbass for one main reason: 

_ He lost the engagement ring he had for Eddie. _

He could've _ sworn _he had it in that one pocket- tucked away safe and sound so he could propose to _ the love of his fucking life _at the park, but _ no! _ Just his luck, he lost the damn thing and now he felt like a depressed piece of shit because of it.

Meanwhile, Eddie was becoming more impatient with his boyfriend's- or, perhaps, something more than that now -behavior, squeezing Richie's hand and nudging him a bit when he began to hear Richie mumbling curses at himself under his breath.

"What's up, Richie?" He asked, his tone serious as well as worryful even though he knew damn well what was bothering Richie.

"What?" Richie turned to him, "What do you mean?" Eddie almost scoffed. Keyword: _ Almost. _

"You've been acting moody since we started walkin' back home," Eddie commented, trying not to sound matter-of-fact, "what's up?"

Richie let out an audible string of inaudible words as he rubbed his face with both hands, stopping his walking and, after making sure they were where he thought they were, hopping up their porch steps and leaning against the wall beside the front door, looking away while Eddie worked on unlocking it.

"Nothin', just," Richie contemplated telling the truth for a moment, but eventually decided against it. "Nothin'." 

"_ Bullshit, _" Eddie said without meaning to, tensing up a little afterward and opening the front door for Richie, who was looking at him with a shocked, possibly confused expression. "Just get inside, Rich. We'll talk about it."

With a nod, Richie entered the house, watching Eddie follow him in and lock the door before making a beeline for their bedroom. Once he got there, Richie began to search through all of the drawers in their bedside table- the place he last left the ring -and almost threw up when he couldn't find the small box that held the accessory. Closing the drawer with shaking hands, Richie leaned against the table and let out a shaky breath before turning to Eddie, who had his arms crossed and was wearing a worried expression.

"I lost it.." Richie choked out through upcoming tears. "I _ fucking _ lost it. I'm so sorry..." He faced the ground, clutching at his jacket sleeves as he allowed himself to start crying, the tears running down his cheeks and, at times, dripping from his chin and onto his shoes.

Eddie's expression softened, the worried look on it fading to more of an understanding one as he slowly stepped forward and pulled Richie into his arms, feeling his heart break a little when he didn't feel the taller man hug him back. Nonetheless, Eddie stayed quiet and allowed Richie to sob into his shoulder, the same thought buzzing endlessly- almost obnoxiously -in his head.

_ Tell the Truth. Tell the Truth. Tell the Truth. _

** -Extra- **  
The silence had become deafening, the sound of Richie's shaky breathing being the only thing that echoed throughout the room as Eddie slowly let go of him, attempting to meet Richie's eye for a moment, and absolutely despising the broken expression on Richie's face. He soon decided that waiting to tell the truth was, basically, not an option.

Slowly, he removed the box from his pocket, opened it, and held the delicate ring up so Richie could see it. When he did, Richie almost choked on his own breath as he gasped.

"Eddie-!" He coughed a bit, Eddie patting his back to soothe him. "Eddie, how the _ fuck _ did you-?!"

"The kid," Eddie stated, not needing to say anything more as he fiddled with the ring between his fingers. When he heard Richie let out a heart-wrenching sob a few moments later, Eddie quickly looked back up and reached a hand up to caress Richie's face, doing so with gentle intent.

"I- I'm so.." Richie couldn't seem to get many words out, "This wasn't su-supposed to ha-happen like thi-" He violently sucked in a breath- courtesy of his crying -and felt his hands shake even more as they reached out to cup Eddie's ring-holding hand. With the wide-eyed/regretful look and the tears flowing freely down Richie's face, Eddie began to feel himself start to cry, too.

"Hey," He said softly, a fond smile slipping onto his face as he wiped some of Richie's tears away. "It's okay, _ you're _okay, shh.." 

He continued to hold Richie like that for, what felt like, an eternity, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to think of something- _ anything _ he could do to completely calm Richie down.

After a short moment of giving it some thought, and after reassuring and comforting his partner, Eddie looked back down at the ring and, with a strong certainty, moved to put it on his left ring finger, surprising the living fuck out of Richie, who just watched him without a word. 

"Besides," Eddie said after a minute, his voice a little shaky as he looked Richie in the eye again, "I say 'yes'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this one!  
It's (clearly) a LOT longer than the last one, so who knows how long the 3rd one will be!  
Stay tuned! I'll try to get chapter 3 done ASAP!
> 
> All stories I write/post will be on this account and my Tumblr account ("otherworldly_sunsets") ONLY!  
If you see my stories under any other account on here, or on any other media, then someone stole my work. I will post this message on every story I write.  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks!


	3. Warmth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, it's here! Chapter three!  
I'm really sorry for getting it out so late!  
I really hope you guys enjoy it and let me know if there are any grammar errors, typos, etc. that need fixing.  
Thanks a bunch! :)

The silence in the room was almost deafening, Richie's eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing like a fish's. For a moment, Eddie thought that the man was going to faint, mentally preparing himself to catch him if need be, but was relieved (or, maybe, not so much 'relieved' as he was 'nervous') when Richie finally did something.

Without warning, Richie had reached out and grabbed Eddie by his shirt, pulling him into a tight hug and burying his face into the crook of the shorter man's neck. Eddie didn't have to listen real close to know that Richie was crying; the taller man's tears dampening his skin a little and making Eddie lightly flinch. However, he did not pull away and, instead, allowed himself to sway with Richie in his arms- an attempt to soothe him best he could. Inaudibly, Richie whispered something into Eddie's ear and Eddie turned his head a little.

"What was that, Rich?"

"Are you sure?" Richie's voice cracked a little, his grip tightening on Eddie as the shorter man nodded in response. "Don't fuck with me, Eds."

"Why do you think I'm fucking with you?" Eddie asked with genuine curiosity, not bothering to bark at Richie for the nickname usage as he pulled away and gently caressed Richie's cheeks, looking into his eyes with a serious expression. When he saw that Richie was trying to avoid eye contact, Eddie sighed and moved up to capture the comedian's lips with his own in a tender kiss.

Richie tensed a little at the contact, his hands slipping onto Eddie's forearms and gently gripping onto them as he began to kiss back, pulling Eddie closer and allowing his eyes to close with a low hum of a moan. Eddie, with a faint smirk, gripped onto Richie's hoodie and moved closer to him, his head tilting a little to deepen the kiss.

It didn't take long for the kiss to become heated after that; one of Eddie's hands moving up into Richie's hair and lightly tugging to get another moan out of him while Richie moved his hands to Eddie's hips and rubbed the little bit of skin that he could under Eddie's shirt with his thumbs. Eventually, Eddie grabbed hold of Richie's hands and moved them further up his shirt, muttering something about being "done with the teasing bullshit, Tozier," and making Richie finally smile as he went back in to kiss him.

They continued like that for quite a while, kissing each other with a new type of desire that only seemed to exist because of Eddie's response to the ring. That- by no means -was a bad thing, of course. In fact, Eddie could feel himself already melting into the new feeling as Richie pushed the hoodie off of his shoulders, the cold air of their bedroom making Eddie shiver with a soft gasp.

Richie seemed to like that, moving his hands under Eddie's shirt once again and, with little effort, getting the shirt off of the shorter man's body and tossing it aside, his hand moving down to Eddie's chest within seconds as their lips locked again. He moved his hand downwards a little, the feeling sending a pleasurable shiver up Eddie's spine and making him let out a soft moan as he tried to get Richie's shirt off. With a bit more effort than before, they both managed to get Richie's shirt off of him and Richie happily allowed his_ fiancé _(he adored the sound of that) to move him onto the bed and straddle him quickly.

As Eddie moved his kisses down Richie's neck, the comedian began to talk.

"So," his voice was a bit raspy and he cleared his throat, "you really weren't kidding, were you?"

Eddie paused for a bit before shaking his head.

"No." He stated, returning to Richie's neck mere seconds after.

"You real-" Richie was interrupted by a soft moan that Eddie got out of him by licking a sweet spot on his neck, "-You really wanna marry me?"

"Of course I do..." Eddie whispered into Richie's ear, his tone reassuring as he moved back to kiss Richie sweetly. When he pulled away, he felt Richie's hands sliding up his back and let out a soft sigh in contentment. "Why else would I put the ring on?" His tone was teasing then and, when Richie gave him a bashful smile, Eddie softly chuckled and kissed him again. "Dumbass," he said fondly.

"Oh shut up," Richie chuckled, tapping his fingers against Eddie's bare sides and making him tense up a bit. "'s not my fault I dropped the stupid thing." As his fingers went from tapping to caressing, Eddie softly began to laugh and moved his hands over Richie's to stop him.

"Oh, so the ring is stupid to you now?" Eddie joked, his right hand moving to grab at the ring and slowly, playfully, tug at it. "I mean, I could always take it off and pretend that nothing happened-_ hey! _" He yelped a bit, slapping Richie's arm once he felt the taller man begin to tickle at him again.

"_ No! _" Richie replied, kissing Eddie's jaw gently. "Do_ not _take it off! Of fucking course it isn't stupid, jackass, it was just meant for a different Kaspbrak!" Eddie, in response, scoffed and shoved at Richie's chest.

"Bullshit!" Eddie laughed.

"I'm not kiddin'!" Richie gripped tighter onto Eddie's waist to keep him from falling. "Just wait 'til your mother hears about this! You just stole her ring!"

"My mo-" Eddie scoffed again, "_ Seriously? _" 

Richie laughed. "Totally, Eddie baby." 

Eddie rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, giving Richie a look before asking, plain and simple, "What was the 'R + E' about then, huh?" When Richie hesitated in giving a proper answer, Eddie smirked with pride.

"Uh..." Richie thought on it some more, his eyes suddenly lightening up as he got an idea and said, "E-Sonia! Ah, yes, my one true love!" He did a fake-swoon motion with his hands and laughed when Eddie slapped at him again. "_ Oww! _Geez, I didn't know you had a kink, Eds!"

"Oh my God!" Eddie scoffed out a chuckle. "Do you_ ever _shut up?!" He moved his arms around Richie's neck and pulled him closer, his smile never faltering as they met eyes again.

"We have been together for over three years," Richie reminded teasingly, "and you're just asking that_ now? _" He gently glided the tips of his fingers up and down Eddie's back, making him shiver a little again.

"Oh shut up, dickwad," Eddie huffed with no real malice, resting his forehead against Richie's.

"_ You _shut up, Dr. K." Eddie let out a soft chuckle and rolled his eyes, shifting his position in Richie's lap while the latter moved his hands back to Eddie's hips.

"Make me, Trashmouth." He teased flirtatiously, making Richie grin as he suddenly wrapped both of his arms around Eddie's waist and, without allowing Eddie a moment to process anything, flipped them both over so that Richie was on top. With a squeak (which he would forever deny letting out), Eddie landed on the mattress and let out a soft laugh-whine of "That hurt, man!" as his hands began to push at Richie's chest, the comedian attempting to kiss him again.

"Oh, stop it," Richie chuckled, "you're fucking_ jacked _, Eddie, the only person who gets to complain here is me." 

"Shut up," Eddie laughed, his face becoming a bit red and he tilted his head to dodge another kiss, "and get_ off! _You're fucking crushing me!"

"I am_ not _crushing you!" Richie protested, still moving off of Eddie a little just in case he actually was. Before long, his hands found Eddie's own and, without realizing it, he was caressing the diamond ring on the other man's finger. 

"Yes you_ are! _Get off!" Eddie's laughter started to kick up a notch as he tried to get his hands out of Richie's grip, but to no avail. With a wholehearted smile, Richie pinned Eddie's hands onto the mattress and kissed him deeply, tenderly; relishing in the way Eddie softly moaned and moved one of his legs around Richie's waist.

It all felt so familiar, so genuine, and neither Richie nor Eddie wanted it to end-

_ Ring! Ring! Ring! _  
_ Bark! Bark! Bark! _

"Oh, Goddamnit..." Eddie muttered, his smile falling as soon as Richie's phone began to ring. 'Just my luck' he thought, sitting up once Richie got off of him to answer his phone. With a small mutter of complaint- "we shouldn't have gotten those stupid portable chargers, Rich, they're a pain in the ass anyway." -Eddie picked up the discarded clothes from the floor and folded them as neatly as he could over his right forearm, moving out of their bedroom and watching with re-arriving amusement as Tiger hopped around and tripped over his leash, which Eddie quickly removed with a soft apology to the happy Pom.

"Oh yeah, no, power's still out." Eddie heard Richie say as he put the clothes in the washer, the comedian's footsteps moving down the hall and closer to him, making him softly smile to himself. Not too long after, Eddie felt Richie wrap an arm around him from behind, his other hand maneuvering his phone until it was held between his shoulder and his ear so he could both continue the conversation with whoever had called (Beverly, Eddie assumed) and so he could hold Eddie with both arms- just like he had that morning. 

"We have those portable charger thingies," Richie soon said- a response to a question Bev asked, most likely -as he intertwined his and Eddie's fingers together, "yeah, it's pretty alright," he softly kissed the top of Eddie's head, moving the phone away from his ear after a bit of fighting to get a hand out of Eddie's grip before asking in a soft voice, "how does a bath sound, Eds?"

"_ Richie..! _" Eddie softly scolded, motioning to the phone, "Bev can hear you!" Nonetheless, he was all for the idea; nodding a little after glancing down at the ground and giving it a mere second's thought. The suggestion itself did not throw him off in the slightest, having grown used to this kind of stuff from Richie- the time they spent together getting less and less what with their jobs and all that. Plus, he thought, long-time couples (i.e. him and Richie) usually become this comfortable with each other, don't they? He surely thought so.

Moving on from that thought, Eddie gently kissed Richie's cheek, whispered that he was going to get a quick shower so that he "wouldn't smell like mud and pumpkins later" as he put it, then; after Richie tried to end the call with Beverly early so that he could take the shower with Eddie and after Eddie had a quiet, playful argument with him about how he couldn't because "what if Bev has something important to say?"; Eddie headed into their bedroom, turned on the shower, undressed completely, and hopped in as soon as the water was the perfect temperature, the light from the outdoors helping him see what he was doing.

While in the shower, Eddie couldn't stop looking at the new, shiny ring that fit snuggly on his finger, the '_ R + E _' engravement warming his heart every time he caught sight of it. It wasn't long before his mind drifted off to what his and Richie's wedding would be like. Sure, it was a sappy- maybe even cliché thought, but Eddie couldn't exactly stop himself from thinking about it. Would their wedding be like Ben and Bev's- fancy, beautiful, and almost like something from a fairytale? Would it be more casual- at a bar or with a small, simple party like Bill, Mike and Stan's? Would they even_ have _a wedding?

After thinking it over for a while, and after hearing some jumping around and cheering from, what he assumed was, the kitchen, Eddie decided that- wedding or not -he would be happy just as long as he had Richie and the other Losers by his side.

** \------- **  
"So, what was all that jumping and cheering about earlier?" Eddie asked as he adjusted his grip on the towel that rested snuggly around his waist, watching as Richie repeatedly felt the water's temperature. To be honest, he had a feeling that he knew the answer to the question, but he wanted to make sure just in case Beverly turned out to be pregnant or something. 

"Oh, uh..." Richie paused for a moment before turning to Eddie with a slight grin, "I told Ben and Bev about the ring thing." Eddie softly huffed out a chuckle, clearly checking out Richie's somewhat-flushed face through the light of the many candles they had moved into the front bathroom after it had gotten darker outside, and after Richie and Eddie had both gotten their separate showers.

"Hm," Eddie hummed softly to himself, "that's what I thought."

With a chuckle, Richie stood up and turned his back to the bathtub, his hands slipping around Eddie's waist as he silently prayed that his towel would stay tied around his waist (or not- surely Eddie wouldn't mind either way).

"So you don't mind that I told them?" Richie asked, his eyes hardly leaving Eddie's as the shorter man replied with a simple shake of the head. Richie, not entirely convinced, asked, "you sure?"

"Did you tell them about how you almost lost the ring and a twelve-year-old had to propose for you?" Eddie teased with a soft laugh, his body twitching a little as he felt Richie pinch at the skin along his ribs. "Hey! Don't do that!"

"Well, don't remind me of how I fucked up."

"Oh my God- I was_ kidding! _"

"Were you?" Richie softly chuckled, pulling Eddie closer. "'Cause that sounded like a direct attack at my self-esteem, Eds." He mockingly pouted at the risk analyst, who just rolled his eyes, told Richie not to call him 'Eds', and covered the comedian's mouth with his free hand.

Richie'd be lying if he said he didn't want to lick Eddie's hand at that moment.

Instead, however, he just settled with moving Eddie's hand away and kissing his wrist- a tender gesture that Eddie had always enjoyed.

"Richie..." Eddie muttered as the taller man moved closer, his voice almost a moan as Richie kissed him for the umpteenth time that day. Richie moved one hand on Eddie's hip and the other in his hair, caressing his lover gently as their kiss deepened bit by bit.

"Richie," Eddie's voice seemed more stern- Richie hearing it as impatient, however, as his kisses moved down the risk analyst's neck. With a soft groan in pleasure, Eddie moved his free hand down Richie's back, receiving a pleasant shiver from the comedian before remembering a certain something and huffing a bit.

"_ Richie! _" He somewhat hollered, startling Richie, who was quick to jump away with wide eyes.

"Shit-!" He gasped, "Are you okay? Did- Did I hurt you?" The panicked look in his eyes made Eddie's heart drop, so he quickly explained-

"The tub, Richie!" He pointed to the bathtub behind Richie, which was pretty damn close to overflowing. "The water, it-!"

"Oh_ fuck! _" Richie hissed, turning around swiftly and quickly turning the water off, draining the tub a little bit as to not risk a flood or something later. While he did all that, Eddie began to laugh harder than Richie had heard him laugh in a while, leaning against the wall behind them and allowing his body to double over while his arm held his stomach.

"You're such a dumbass!" Eddie snorted. "You- You-!" He couldn't seem to say anything else, his eyes falling upon Richie's playful glare which he had been sending his way since the playful insult had left Eddie's lips.

"Shut the fuck up and get over here, spaghetti-" Richie tried to reach out to Eddie, but was stopped as his towel became loose and began to slip down his hips. With a curse, Richie caught it and moved it back up and around himself, his playful glare soon returning as he heard Eddie's laughter increase. "Geez! And you say I'm not funny!"

Eddie was soon able to soften his laughter, his free hand resting on his chest as he took a few deep breaths. As if on instinct, Richie stepped forward to help him, but Eddie stopped him and sent him a wholehearted smile.

"I'm okay, Rich," he assured, "now quit worryin' and get in the damn tub."

He didn't have to tell Richie twice.

** \------- **  
The water was perfect, the warmth of it soothing any aches either of the two may have had. Richie moved his arms around Eddie's waist once the other male was laying comfortably with his back against Richie's chest, propping his chin up onto Eddie's shoulder and making him hum in contentment as he began to rub the shorter man's arm, his fingers occasionally stopping to fiddle with the ring on Eddie's finger. This was a position that both of them were very familiar with and they always seemed to know just what to do whenever they got into it- like some sort of relaxing routine.

As Richie's attention soon got caught by the ring again, he softly smiled to himself and fondly asked, "So it fits?" Soon enough, he began to caress the diamonds on the small silver band with his thumb, awaiting a response even though he could tell, just by looking, what the answer was. He just wanted to hear Eddie's opinion on it- not that he'd ever admit that.

"It hasn't fallen off yet, has it?" The question, albeit rhetorical and a bit sarcastic, made Richie's heart melt more than he had expected it to be able to. For a second, he began to wonder if Eddie could feel his heavily-pounding heartbeat against his back but found that Eddie was showing no signs of acknowledgment towards it, so Richie just chuckled into Eddie's neck and allowed the room to fall silent again.

That was, of course, until...

"Remember that dream I was telling you about this morning?" Richie found himself asking, the sound of a soft 'mhm' from Eddie leading him to continue, "well, it may or may not have been a load of bullshit." He chuckled to himself and felt Eddie shift a little to give him a look.

"Seriously?" Eddie asked. "No 'hunk of a human' or whatever you said-"

"_ Well _," Richie interjected with a slight drag of the word, "no, he was still there._ Definitely _still there-_ God _how could anyone forget that gorgeous-"

"Beep beep, Richie!" Eddie joked, slapping the comedian's hand gently, "get on with it already!" They both shared a soft laugh at that before Richie continued.

"Alright, alright, so," Richie began, "we were in a field- something like the Barrons almost -and the rest of the Losers were with us. Everyone was dressed all fancy and shit for some big event- a wedding, I think -and there was some music playing. A soft, slow song that I remember hearing a few times, y'know..." he began to snap his fingers to a mental beat, humming, what Eddie assumed to be, the melody of the song from Richie's dream. Eddie listened closely, recognizing the tune, but not remembering the song itself. After a short bit, Richie stopped humming and continued.

"Something like that. Anyway, you and I were dancing together and... the others kept smiling at us and..." he trailed off, his thumb rubbing the back of Eddie's hand after he felt the other man shift it around. "It was nice."

"Sounds like it," Eddie replied, his smile growing fonder as his thoughts began to fill with images of what he imagined Richie's dream was like. The sun, some trees, a clear blue sky above them and the other Losers as they celebrated whatever it was in the dream. He believed he had a good idea of what it was, but he chose not to say anything, hoping that Richie would say it himself.

However, the other man remained quiet, his breathing soft and slow against Eddie's skin as he gently buried his face into the shorter man's neck. After a short moment, Richie began to place gentle kisses along Eddie's shoulder- occasionally nibbling along the skin to hear Eddie either gasp, chuckle, or moan -and the risk analyst felt himself practically melt.

Suddenly, Richie stopped and Eddie began to let out a soft huff of complaint.

"Eddie, my love," Richie said, his eyes filling with some sort of surprised admiration as he glanced at Eddie.

"Yeah, Rich?" Eddie leaned back a bit to get a good look at him. Richie laughed a little.

"No, that was the song." He replied, caressing Eddie's cheek gently with a growing smile.

"Oh," Eddie snickered a bit, his gaze moving down to Richie's lips as the taller man began to lean forward to kiss him, his eyes closing once their lips met and his body turning a little more in order to make the kiss more comfortable.

Needless to say, by the time Richie and Eddie were done with their bath, the water was a lot colder and they both- mainly Eddie -had decided that they would_ definitely _need another shower later.

** -Extra- **   
** -Two Weeks Later- **

"Are you_ fucking _kidding me?!" Stan yelled, his hands slamming upon the tabletop and making a few of the other Losers jump. "You_ just _proposed to him?!"

"Well, technically, it was about two weeks ago-"

"Beep beep, Richie!" Another slam, this time lighter, "You_ seriously _waited_ this fucking long _to ask him?!" He sounded positively livid, but the excited glint in his eyes told Richie that he was truly more happy for him than pissed at him.

"Actually," Eddie butted in, "a fan of his gave the ring to me. This dumbass," he motioned to Richie, "dropped it."

"Fucking_ really?! _" Stan gaped at Richie.

"W-W-Wait,_ what?! _" Bill coughed out after momentarily choking on his drink, sending a thankful look Mike's way as he felt the librarian begin to part his back soothingly.

"Oh my fucking God, Richie, you didn't!" Beverly was laughing so hard that the others thought she was going to fall out of her chair, but Ben grabbed a hold of her before she could.

"Eddie!" Richie whined, nudging his fiancé in the side as his face turned a deep shade of red. "Dude, not cool!" 

"Well, what was I supposed to tell them?" Eddie scoffed over the loud laughter of their friends. The power had, thankfully, come back on over a week ago and Richie had gotten the bright idea of inviting the others over for a celebratory dinner. Neither he nor Eddie thought that it would end up like this (even though, as they knew, they really should have).

"Did the fan get on one knee, Eddie?" Ben jokingly asked, his smile growing as Bev leaned against him to muffle her laughter.

"Oh, no no," Eddie chuckled, bringing his glass of wine to his lips with a simple, "it would've been weird if he did. The poor kid was twelve."

The room erupted into laughter yet again.

Richie groaned, putting his face in his hands before playfully spitting a sharp "you're gonna get it later" in Eddie's direction. Eddie just chuckled and intertwined his fingers with Richie's, looking at him fondly as their friends' laughter died down.

Conversations went on like normal after that, most of them being about teasing Richie with how he '_ almost lost a whole-ass engagement ring _' as Stan had put it and how he waited until he was '_ forty-fucking-three _' to propose to Eddie. It was all in good fun- no harm done -and they all came up with multiple new inside jokes (and blackmail ideas, but that was mainly kept between Stan and Bev).

Suddenly, Stanley stood up and refilled his glass of wine, handing the bottle to Bill before grinning softly at Richie and Eddie and lifting his glass high.

"To Richie and Eddie," he announced, the sound of chairs scraping against the hardwood floor of the dining room soon following as the other Losers- Eddie and Richie included -all stood up with raised, wine-filled glasses, "two of the greatest friends I've ever had." 

With a satisfying '_ clink _', their glasses gently collided and all seven of them took a drink, their smiles hardly ever faltering as they all sat back down and continued their conversations, Richie's heart melting as he felt Eddie grab his hand, intertwine their fingers, and lean his head against his shoulder.

** -END- **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it!  
This was a lot of fun to write, and I really hope you guys enjoyed reading it!  
Love you guys! <3
> 
> All stories I write/post will be on this account and my Tumblr account ("otherworldly_sunsets") ONLY!  
  
If you see my stories under any other account on here, or on any other media, then someone stole my work. I will post this message on every story I write.  


**Author's Note:**

> All stories I write/post will be on this account and my Tumblr account ("otherworldly_sunsets") ONLY!  
  
If you see my stories under any other account on here, or on any other media, then someone stole my work. I will post this message on every story I write.  
I hope you enjoyed the story! Thanks!


End file.
